Usbl

Their season may have come to a disappointing end with a first-round playoff loss, but three Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs did not go unnoticed in the voting for postseason honors. Kwan Johnson and Ace Custis were named first-team All-USBL, while forward Larry Abney was made a member of the All-Rookie team. Johnson also was runner-up in MVP balloting. Dodge City's Sean Colson won the award. A 6-6 guard, Johnson ranked second in the league in scoring with a 24.2 average. His 2.2 steals per game placed him 9th in the USBL.

A weekly look back at local sports in the Lehigh Valley on anniversaries in mutliples of five. June 26 1971--Mark Donohue earns the pole for the inaugural Schaefer 500 at Pocono with a qualifying time of 172.3 miles an hour. 1966--Mario Andretti goes wire-to-wire for in his third straight race and becomes the first USAC driver ever to lead for 500 consecutive miles, winning the Championshiip 300 in Atlanta. In his previous two starts Andretti had led the entire way while winning races in Milwaukee and Langhorne.

Darryl Dawkins played 14 years in the NBA and never recalled an official puffing out his chest and barking during a heated dispute, "I ain't scared of you." No NBA player ever approached Dawkins in that manner. "No, not like that," said Dawkins, who has been coach of the Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs of the United States Basketball League since 1999. "Guys would just tell guys if you want to get something on, I'll see you after the game in the locker room, but never a call-out." Dawkins, 47, after all, is 6-11 and weighs 310 pounds, but his size apparently did not intimidate USBL official Lenny Watson, who engaged in a verbal altercation with Dawkins in the locker room area following the 'Dawgs' 119-112 victory over the Florence Flyers last Thursday at Liberty High's Memorial Gymnasium.

Most minor league basketball players pray for an invitation to an NBA training camp. Allentown's Sammy Barona just hoped for an opportunity to play for the Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs of the United States Basketball League. He's finally on the roster and more excited than ever about his career. "I feel like I'm 19-years-old," Barona said before Pennsylvania's game against the Dodge City Legend Sunday night at Dieruff High. Barona, 28, has played the last six seasons in the Dominican Republic League and he played briefly in France.

The United States Basketball League enters its 20th season on shaky ground. It has shrunk from 11 teams to eight and went into the 11th hour to try to revive the Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs, the team it once considered its flagship operation. As of Monday afternoon, the defending USBL champion ValleyDawgs had no owner, no head coach, no veteran players, and no official home court. But the USBL season starts Friday, with eight games scheduled, including one between the ValleyDawgs and the expansion New Jersey Flyers.

The Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs may have finally secured financial backing to survive at least another season and are expected to open defense of their United States Basketball League championship Friday night at Dieruff High School. Service Electric Cable president John Walson Jr., who had taken over majority ownership of the ValleyDawgs from New Jersey businessman Jim Jennings in 2001, divested interest in the team last August and USBL director of operations Ed Krinsky has been trying to find a new owner since.

Lehigh Valley ValleyDawgs General Manager Mike Sweet has resigned. Sweet had been with the 'Dawgs since they opened operations three years ago. "My tenure with the ValleyDawgs has been extremely satisfying," he said. "Winning a division title, having Darryl Dawkins named Coach of the Year and topping it off with a USBL championship is quite an accomplishment in three short years." The ValleyDawgs, the 2001 USBL champions, have led the league in attendance two of the past three years.

The Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs don't care who, but they want one of their players to get married during the season next year. The tying of vows seems to be the good luck charm the 'Dawgs need to win a USBL title. Thank you, Marcus Fleming. That was the sentiment Pennsylvania coach Darryl Dawkins expressed after the 'Dawgs' 118-116 victory over the Brooklyn Kings in the USBL title game Sunday night in Salina, Kan. Fleming missed the last three regular-season games to get married, then returned for the playoffs and played as if he had been practicing around the clock on his honeymoon.

With crushed hearts and tempers not yet cooled, the Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs had hoped a feast at Applebee's would ease their discontent over losing the United States Basketball League championship by a point Sunday night in Dodge City, Kan. But it didn't. The controversial way the 'Dawgs lost 97-96 in overtime to host Dodge City apparently even bothered some of the locals. "We had people from Dodge City apologizing to us," Pennsylvania assistant coach Nat Amato said by cell phone as the team traveled back to Pennsylvania.

The great Wilt Chamberlain and the famous Harlem Globetrotters once dazzled crowds at Liberty High's Memorial Gymnasium. Former Philadelphia 76ers center Darryl Dawkins hopes to do the same today, but he'll have to rely on his Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs players. The 'Dawgs will make their United States Basketball League home debut at Liberty against the Brooklyn Kings at 4 p.m. today. This is the 'Dawgs sixth season, each with Dawkins as coach. The team had played the previous five springs at Lehigh University's Stabler Arena.

The Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs' potential new owner from Kentucky has backed out, and the navy blue and golden yellow uniforms the team wore the previous six seasons have disappeared. And are you ready for this? The 12 players who suited up in the 'Dawgs' United States Basketball League opener Friday night at Dieruff still need to go through personal introductions. "Nobody knows everybody's name yet, and they have not learned to play with each other yet," said Pennsylvania coach Darryl Dawkins, the franchise's only coach since its inception in 1999.

In with the new -- and the old. The Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs are under new ownership for the third time in their six-year existence as businesswoman Valerie McQueen from Newport, Ky., completed all transactions with the league late Tuesday. And Darryl Dawkins will remain as head coach. Dawkins is ready for the stern challenge of trying to lead the ValleyDawgs to a second straight United States Basketball League championship. "I am always selfish," Dawkins said. "I am always thinking about a title.

The Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs may have finally secured financial backing to survive at least another season and are expected to open defense of their United States Basketball League championship Friday night at Dieruff High School. Service Electric Cable president John Walson Jr., who had taken over majority ownership of the ValleyDawgs from New Jersey businessman Jim Jennings in 2001, divested interest in the team last August and USBL director of operations Ed Krinsky has been trying to find a new owner since.

The United States Basketball League enters its 20th season on shaky ground. It has shrunk from 11 teams to eight and went into the 11th hour to try to revive the Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs, the team it once considered its flagship operation. As of Monday afternoon, the defending USBL champion ValleyDawgs had no owner, no head coach, no veteran players, and no official home court. But the USBL season starts Friday, with eight games scheduled, including one between the ValleyDawgs and the expansion New Jersey Flyers.

The Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs have the United States Basketball League title again. Now they are in search of bandwagon jumpers in the Lehigh Valley. But they don't plan on waiting until next season to find them. On Monday, less than 24 hours after beating the Brooklyn Kings for the USBL title, team coach Darryl Dawkins and vice president and general manager Sam Unera spoke enthusiastically about their plans while waiting for a flight out of Wichita, Kan. The victory in the Bicentennial Center in Salina, Kan., Sunday night proved the 'Dawgs their second USBL title since 2001.

The Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs don't care who, but they want one of their players to get married during the season next year. The tying of vows seems to be the good luck charm the 'Dawgs need to win a USBL title. Thank you, Marcus Fleming. That was the sentiment Pennsylvania coach Darryl Dawkins expressed after the 'Dawgs' 118-116 victory over the Brooklyn Kings in the USBL title game Sunday night in Salina, Kan. Fleming missed the last three regular-season games to get married, then returned for the playoffs and played as if he had been practicing around the clock on his honeymoon.

The Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs have the United States Basketball League title again. Now they are in search of bandwagon jumpers in the Lehigh Valley. But they don't plan on waiting until next season to find them. On Monday, less than 24 hours after beating the Brooklyn Kings for the USBL title, team coach Darryl Dawkins and vice president and general manager Sam Unera spoke enthusiastically about their plans while waiting for a flight out of Wichita, Kan. The victory in the Bicentennial Center in Salina, Kan., Sunday night proved the 'Dawgs their second USBL title since 2001.

There was a controversial ending to Sunday's United States Basketball League title game in Dodge City, Kansas. With 4.7 seconds remaining in overtime, offsetting fouls were called, resulting in a jump ball at midcourt. The Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs, trailing by one, won the tap. But shooting guard Ronnie Fields failed to get off a last-second, 3-point attempt, allowing the Dodge City Legend to persevere, 97-96. "The 4.7 seconds went so fast," Fields said. "I've never seen 4.7 go that fast."

The Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs didn't allow an official's whistle to play a factor in their United States Basketball League playoff rematch with Dodge City Saturday night in Salina, Kan. The 'Dawgs took matters into their hands by building a big lead, fueled by a relentless fastbreak in the second half, in their 109-98 victory over Dodge City in the USBL semifinals at the Bicentennial Center. "We ran them so much early they were tired by halftime, so by the second half we were just blowing past them," said guard Quincy Wadley, who had a team-high 21 points.

His shooting science had been off on his previous seven shots -- all misses. So when Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs guard John Thomas attempted a rushed, off-balance 3-pointer with the shot clock nearing zero, his coach, Darryl Dawkins, just hoped for a lucky break. Thomas' shot banked high off the backboard with 51 seconds left in a USBL quarterfinal game against Cedar Rapids and went in. It gave Pennsylvania a five-point lead en route to a 113-104 victory Friday at the Bicentennial Center in Salina, Kan. The 'Dawgs have had few good breaks in Kansas over the years, losing in the USBL championship game by a point in overtime to host Dodge City last year and not winning many regular-season games in the state.